Updated Mountain West Tournament Notes (for Wyoming game)
Box Score | 2017-18 Season Statistics | Post Game Notes | Post Game Press Conferences 
| Interview with New Mexico’s Mike Bradbury |
Interview with New Mexico’s Cherise Beynon | New Mexico Post Game Quotes | San Jose State Post Game Quotes
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — New Mexico bolted out to a 12-2 lead and never looked back as the Lobos cruised past the San José State Spartans in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament 84-54, equaling the most points UNM has ever scored in a conference tournament. The Lobos, the No. 6 seed, will take on third-seeded Wyoming on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. Pacific/9:30 p.m. Mountain.
The Lobos get solid performances up and down the starting lineup. Cherise Beynon, coming off a triple-double against Fresno State, nearly did it again, scoring 14 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists. Beynon opened the game with an and-one basket, Jaisa Nunn followed with another and-one basket and UNM never looked back. That three-point play was a part of a 19-point, nine-rebound effort, just missing a fourth double-double by one rebound.
Q1 | Beynon for 3 at the buzzer! 19-12 Lobos at the end of 1! #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/LSykzbwlRQ
— Lobo Women’s Basketball (@UNMLoboWBB) March 6, 2018
Tesha Buck added 18 with four three-pointers, and Laneah Bryan was everywhere, scoring seven points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. Bryan had a grand total of 10 rebounds in her previous 19 games.
“We’ve been focused for probably the last eight to 10 games on just playing well,” said head coach Mike Bradbury. “We’ve really not talked about winning and losing and anything like that. We are just trying to play well and tonight our focus was to just play hard and just be efficient.”
“We’ve really simplified things.”
Q3 | Nunn is Nunn-stoppable! Shes got 19, 51-28 Lobos #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/bQjl7Kxb7c
— Lobo Women’s Basketball (@UNMLoboWBB) March 6, 2018
It was easy to simplify things with the offensive onslaught and rebounding effort put forth by the Lobos, who improved to 23-9 on the season, tying for the seventh-most wins in school history. After opening up a 19-12 lead after the first quarter, a stanza that ended with a Buck three at the buzzer, the offense broke loose in the second quarter, spurred on by another solid defensive effort.
UNM harassed San José State into 27.8% shooting in the quarter while UNM shot 52.4% at 11-for-21, hitting 4-of-9 threes in the process. UNM led by 21 at the break 47-26 with another basket at the buzzer, this from Nunn.
From there UNM cruised. UNM led by 24 after three and the only real drama left was would Beynon get another triple-double, but with a big lead and a game in 24 hours, Bradbury was able to empty his bench early and save the legs of his starters.
As for Wyoming, said Bradbury, “We are going to have to play hard and we are going to have to compete.”